Berlusconi condemns EU commissioner who criticised Sarkozy

Italy's Silvio Berlusconi publicly backed French president Nicolas Sarkozy in the row with the European Union over France's forcible expulsion of Roma gipsies.

Silvio Berlusconi criticised Viviane Reding for drawing a parallel between the expulsion of Roma and the and the Nazis' deportation of JewsPhoto: GETTY

By Nick Squires in Rome

11:47AM BST 16 Sep 2010

The Italian prime minister criticised the EU Justice Commissioner, Viviane Reding, for drawing a parallel between the expulsion of Roma back to Romania and Bulgaria and the Nazis' deportation of Jews during World War II.

She has urged the European Commission to take legal action against France over its controversial policy of deporting Roma back to their home countries, which Mr Sarkozy stepped up in August.

Mr Berlusconi told Le Figaro newspaper that it "would have been better if Madame Reding had dealt with the subject in private with French leaders before expressing herself publicly as she did."

Italy has come under intense criticism by human rights groups and Roma campaigners for bulldozing illegally built camps inhabited by gipsies on the outskirts of Italy's big cities.

It has also been condemned for a policy of finger printing Roma in an attempt to register the population of the shanty settlements.

"The problem of the Roma is not specifically French. It concerns every country in Europe. It is therefore necessary to put this subject on the agenda at the European Council so we can all discuss it together in order to find a common position," Mr Berlusconi said.

Ms Reding said on Tuesday that she was "appalled by a situation which gave the impression that people are being removed from a member state of the European Union just because they belong to a certain ethnic minority.

"This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War."

The Roma issue is due to be discussed at a one-day summit in Brussels today/ on Thursday.

A plane carrying Mr Berlusconi and aides from Rome to the summit was forced to conduct an emergency landing after cracks appeared in the windshield of the cockpit.

The Airbus A319 was flying over Zurich when the problem was noticed and the pilots decided to return to Italy, landing safely at Milan's Linate airport.

A spokesman for Mr Berlusconi said "everything is under control" and the prime minister and his party were boarding a different plane to continue their journey to Brussels.